Family Bonds and Problems
by Cotto
Summary: "My father's daughter is my sister, what else could she possibly be?"- a brief essay on family set in Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series/Harry Potter, also Rupert/Olivia marriage in background.


**Family Bonds and Problems.**

 _ **By James Carmody.**_

 **Disclaimer:** _I am not JKR, nor am I Joss Whedon, and I do not own, nor have any contract with either of them to produce Harry Potter stories for pay, nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series stories for the same- I therefore hereby forfeit any financial gain from this work of literary fiction._

 **Rating:** _PG, approximately PG13 to be exact, due to some bad judgement teenagers are potentially prone to._

 **Genre(s):** _Family, Friendship, Romance, Hurt/Comfort. (with emphasis on family.)_

 **Dramatis Personae:** _Rupert Giles, Olivia Williams, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Kennedy, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Dumbledore (Albus), Joyce Summers (Mrs.), William Pratt (Spike), various others, including Willow Rosenberg/Tara Maclay._

 **Pairings:** _For the most part, conventional pairings, such as Spike/Buffy, Rupert Giles/Olivia Williams, Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger, but also Kennedy/Dawn Summers._

 **Summary:** _"My father's daughter is my sister, what else could she possibly be?"- a brief essay on family set in Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series/Harry Potter, also Rupert/Olivia marriage in background._

 **Story Notes:** _Oh, and I want to thank KennFaithDawn for letting me aid him in setting up a tale in this type of universe he was, and hopefully still is, working on- my pal, please do continue, I am eager to read what you produce in this regard!_

 **Chapter #1.): "Setting the Stage."**

 **Chapter #1 Beginning Author's Notes:** _Will address things and bring you up to speed here, this's a bit different from the basic television series, but overall it has the characters as they were in the show and movie; oh, and good luck, you'll need it- to preserve your sanity as this goes on! Just kidding, child-friendly for the most part, but older-child friendly… then again, I did read "The Truce At Bakura" when I was in my early teens, and that does deal with some pretty rough stuff overall, as it is a war-story._

Kennedy Giles was laying awake in her bedroom in what amounted to her stepdad's mansion. She was in her pajamas, what looked not unlike her new stepsis's "yummy sushi pjs" as Buffy often called them. Buffy and Dawn, her new sisters, had just been through a very traumatic experience, and just couldn't sleep in the same house as they did when their mom was alive, she herself missed Mrs. Summers; Joyce had been a kind lady, and her passing on a business-venture that seemed very suspiciously similar to her own parent's passing was too coincidental to ignore. This set of events set Kennedy in particular on a vendetta of her own- she could get quite vindictive when things moved her towards that, her best friend at school, Willow Rosenberg, had already noted "Heaven help he whom she considers her personal enemy" in passing observation after an altercation in their senior year that'd gotten Kennedy suspended for, of all things, putting a certain Miss Cordelia Chase, in the garbage can when it was time for the trash to go out to the dump- that'd been going entirely too far, and Kennedy had been summoned to the Principal's office, and had to report to a very livid Mr. Snyder as to why she'd thought it proper to send another girl student to the dump. Needless to say, daddy was _**not**_ pleased at what his little girl had gotten herself into, and, sure as you can make it, as soon as she got home, she found herself grounded for fighting- which means, as a direct result, that Miss Giles was in a pretty sour mood for a while!

That was that regarding the catfights that erupted between Kennedy and Cordelia, but the weird scene of Miss Giles throwing Miss Chase over her right shoulder, holding her there, and hauling her off to the dumpster was something that had many a student laughing at the time- the only ones who didn't, ironically, included a very stunned Larry, who was, in Kennedy's suspension, about the only friend of hers whom her adoptive dad would allow her to contact in any way. While not exactly a good Catholic girl for a variety of reasons, her mind in this suspension period translated the whole affair into a "Purgatory Scenario", and her pastor, a certain Fr. Gabriel, had a little chat with her about this in a sacrament to make up to her Maker about the whole "school catfight affair" in which culminated in her physically throwing another girl out like a bag of trash- she was in a state not unlike that of a typical ghost in a ghost story- a real-world one- purgatory is a period of "being grounded" as it were… you're undergoing a form of treatment for healing from the horrid behavior you've done… that's the concept; or so she wrote in a guess-paper in her journal regarding Catechism class for preparation for Confirmation.

The whole affair had NOT been her most "shining moment" as a local monster-huntress, she'd literally picked up another girl and thrown her over her shoulder, carried her to the dumpster, and threw her away like a bag of garbage- in front of a lot of the student body- thus rendering her unable to find a date as a result of making herself into the biggest jerk in the school by proving once-and-for-all that she herself was, and probably would remain so, a meanie!

Oh, Miss Giles quite comprehended why she had to be disciplined, nevertheless, she did not like getting in trouble, her natural pride wouldn't allow her to easily bow down and submit to it, but she knew that both daddy and Mr. Snyder were quite correct, she'd temporarily disqualified herself from attending school for the time being… it was that bad behavior that humiliated her; not that she'd not defend her friends from bullying, but as Dad put it "Them being bullies does NOT justify you joining them in their sin of bullying merely because you want to fight them in their sin!" and Fr. Gabriel had voiced the same message to her- not necessarily in the same words, but the same overall message. In short, for the time being, Kennedy was restricted as far as where in town she was permitted to go, and had to be escorted around town by a responsible adult until she proved she'd recovered her sensibility of how to deal with problems in the world. "That's the last time I resort to throwing another girl out like garbage due to fighting- I do not like being restrained from school, no sir! Oh, I'm with Dad (R. Giles) on the fact that not only do "No two wrongs ever make a right" and also Principal/Mr. Snyder, and Fr. Gabriel about this nonsense of putting human beings in the school dumpster- fighting to stop bullying that involves bullying in-and-of-itself is not justifiable. She wrote in her journal in trying to sound out reality.

Buffy herself she could hear quietly crying in her own room, same with her love-interest/stepsister now, Dawn Summers, as the new girls had, while her father had taken them in to ensure they'd be cared for, been permitted for security reasons to keep their old surname, for legal purposes overall. And in particular Dawn's suffering broke Kenny's heart; she knew it was weird, first of all, Dawn was her adopted stepsister now, and second, there was a logical reason as per why most people engage in traditional marriage: the only way to become parents biologically- almost any other way leads to either broken hearts or mass-murder of the children made… that is what's wrong with In-Vitro: they slaughter the children the scientist doesn't want to be allowed to live- _"Scientist"_ Kennedy thought bitterly at the concept _"more, much more, like "murderer", now *that's* a better term!"_ the teen Brit thought to herself bitterly at the concept of all the ways the First Evil, a being she suspected after not merely her own loss of her family, but also her sisters' loss of their mom- in a hit no less- would be pretty clearly if not very close to, actually best known as "Lucifer"; and that detail scared her: the activities of that fallen seraph were frightening enough! She'd seen real evil in her life, it'd been done to her family, her biological family, and that'd led to her being separated from her half-sister, Hermione Granger; in fact, the two girls had to communicate through a very elaborate system of contacts as a direct result of the reality that Hermione was, currently, not merely enrolled in a "self-defense school" known ironically as "Hogwarts", but also had been adopted by the Grangers due to having to enter the Witness Protection Program due to the fact that the agents of the First who'd done this deed they weren't sure had all been rounded up. Kennedy hadn't even been allowed to go home the night after it'd happened- the death of their parents in an accident. She suspected it was dubbed an "accident" to trick the mobsters, R. Giles, her Watcher at the time, a type of guardian and teacher, had come by and promptly adopted her in a very rapid legal set of moves, explaining that she, and her sister, were now orphans, and they were separated to keep themselves safe from harm till they were old enough and strong enough to fend off the thugs who'd done this evil deed.

The girls, however, would not be willingly separated, they secretly remained in contact, and wrote back and forth between the two of them on a variety of topics; what they were able to deduce, however, seemed to hint that Thomas Riddle, aka: Lord Voldemort, was in fact a mere minion of the First, who'd been involved in the accidents in his plot to gain power in the wizarding world- he, to obtain the influence of the other Death Eaters had arranged the accident, through teamwork of a sort with the First, whom Kennedy had deduced in their PM conversations as "Lucifer", the two had eagerly teamed up in this dastardly operation of villainy, as they were and are villains, of radically different performance levels. But, Kennedy had messaged Hermione, "The First prefers *personal* power: performance; he's a drug-manufacturer, whereas fellows like Tom Riddle are, in fact, users of his "products" and also "dealers", so they're its lackies." They discussed over time, trying to ascertain what'd really happened to their family, and what these villains would do next.

*That* as her adoptive stepdad put it, was extremely unwise, but totally understandable: to try to fight back against the seraph that'd taken away their parents was a believable move on these girls parts, but also very foolish, as the enemies they face are very deadly… he'd tapped her books and said, "Better to focus on your studies for the time being, no matter how long it takes- vengeance is a "time trap", you're stuck trying to carry it out for years, and it'll tie you up endlessly in going round and round without end." Giles explained to her. In the meantime, as Kennedy remembered this, she heard her new mom, Olivia Williams Giles, speaking quietly to both Buffy and Dawn to try to soothe them. She herself knew well that adjusting to a new mom, of a different skin color, no matter how ridiculous it is, would take time- she herself was still adjusting; she knew it'd take time, and was a dumb idea to get a fuss up about this, but it was hard to biologically "make the leap". The two, stepmom and stepdaughter, had discussed these things, and they knew well that this would take time. Kennedy if anything was far from a racist; especially in regard to her new mom, but actually, and this was definitely a labor of love on her part- one she was more than willing to make by the way- making the leap to seeing Olivia Williams as her "mom" was going to take more work. It was, she knew, overall due to original sin that this residual viewpoint existed at all, and it was a dumb idea at least. She hated being a jerk to her new mom, Olivia was really sweet and loving, but beyond that, profoundly maternal, however, coming to see her in the image category of "New Mom" was going to be difficult at least, and near impossible at most, but the only thing she could reasonably do in good conscience was to persist, no matter how hard it was to see her like that, she knew that was true.

That brought up another problem: One of Olivia's new stepdaughters was her love-interest, the younger, a Dawn Summers, also known as "Dawn Marie Summers Giles", Kennedy really didn't want to engage in incest- that'd be gross and very very very weird at least- even if they couldn't impregnate oneanother… _"And don't get me started on that one"_ Kennedy thought with a weird & goofy grin about the idea of her and Dawn suddenly carrying oneanother's babies in their wombs, especially their mom and dad's looks that'd result _"… that'd be like the Twilight Zone in weird-level"_ , now Kennedy put her index finger to her lips, smirked as a new thought came to her mind _"Though… I wouldn't put it past using a spell to have us create babies inside eachother- but that'd fit the Twilight Zone, or beyond, come to think of it!"_ now she was giggling a bit as she turned off the light and got into her bed.

Buffy herself was known to be dating a William Pratt, whom Kennedy strongly suspected was really a bad boyfriend to her stepsister- she really did not approve of their relationship, not one bit! She believed that William Pratt would abuse her stepsister Buffy Summers, or, even worse, lead her into weird and perverse sex-acts prior to marriage; she found herself really hating the man her stepsister was dating… he seemed entirely too wicked to trust. And, as she went off to dreamland quietly, her mind ran through scenarios of her options to protect her sister from the evil boyfriend her sister had- she was almost certain he was involved in wicked and perverse entertainments as well as a degree of violence. Hermione was a different matter altogether, and their bond was very good, if potentially unsafe, but then again, Hermione was definitely learning about the world and abilities of her nemesis, Tom Riddle, or as he called himself now "Lord Voldemort", "Lord" she muttered quietly under her breath, mocking the title of her sister's nemesis "he has no idea what it takes to be nobility- he's only, at best, nobility due to being born into it, he has no integrity sufficient to be remotely "honorable" not to mention an actual "lord" of anything." Kennedy mocked her sister's adversary- she herself was born into the house of Lords in England, as was her stepdad, but she also knew from the Watchers Academy, the same Academy complex where they trained Slayers to fight monsters- for many a watcher was themselves a former potential Slayer, or "Huntress" as it were… and pretty much required reading were things like the tales of King Arthur Pendragon, in some format or another. Rupert Giles, despite the fights they'd gotten into, had been an excellent teacher to Kennedy, and had trained her well.

Her spoken words melted into mumbling as the raven-haired brunette teen girl realized she was falling asleep and resorted to her prayers, due in particular to the danger herself and her family were in; she also knew that Buffy and Dawn had an aunt, Arlene, somewhere out there in about the middle of the USA, whom both girls were close to, _"So, I guess she's my aunt as well."_ The English teen thought to herself as she lay on her side, begging not to go to sleep till she'd made sure to say all her prayers; then finishing up with a petition to her guardian spirit for assistance throughout the night, and that her Maker would look in on her family spread across the globe, she fell asleep right in the middle of her nightly prayer meditations.

One thing she could hear, however, as her eyes shut, was her stepmom trying to comfort Buffy and Dawn over the loss of some of their family, and she smiled slightly at the realization that, no matter what, two things were present in Olivia: she wouldn't give up on obtaining her children's love, and that she desperately wanted to be a real mom to her husband's stepchildren.

Across town, William Pratt, by the light of an old candle lamp, wrote a letter designed to comfort his crush, Buffy Summers, over the departure of Joyce- he, while a psychopathic vampire and a bit of a pervert, regarded Mrs. Summers to be a good woman, and had never once wanted to bite her, nor really her daughters, come to think of it… it had astonished him that he was in love with her elder child, though; it blew his socks off, frankly: he thought he should hate her as an enemy combatant, instead he felt romantic affections for her. He knew this'd give her a say over him; that's a foregone conclusion, he was merely stunned to find out that he was *in love with her*! And stunned he was, for quite some time too! It was a condolence letter, hand-written, with his own style of literature; just how to deliver it, that was the puzzle for him above all. The problem, of course, was that the middle girl in the new family hated his guts; she'd made that perfectly clear, ever since that stunt in the "Night of St. Vigeous" massacre attempt; which Kennedy had reversed and massacred his gang that'd attacked the school parent-teacher night! Ever since then she'd been gunning for him, so avoiding her was a must, if he was liable to survive without having to cause her to hate him for the rest of their lives at least for the death of her sister- then it hit him: a legendary ring: The Ring of Amara might just do it! _"Wouldn't that be something!"_ William thought to himself as he finished preparing the letter and, after putting it into the envelope, sealed it; but that'd take some degree of research. _"Best get cracking, the night's still young, and get going- sooner I get that ring, the sooner I'll be able to both prove my love to Buffy and also be safe to become her ally in this conflict- oh, the wonders of love!"_ he thought as he pulled on his favorite duster and got ready to dig for the artifact…

 **Author's Notes End Chapter #1.):** _Well, that took a different tack than I'd imagined when I cooked this up, but all this writing does give me a glimpse into my Maker's style of creating, and perhaps this's how "biblical predestination" really works: instead of God dictating what we do, He lets our character run wild within limits set for the safety of ourselves and others… there will most certainly be more of this tale, of that you can be absolutely sure; Lord willing, that is._

 _One reason Kennedy is interested in religion is safety: she's had some serious enemies gunning for her since she was conceived- even before birth- and is thus taking reasonable precautions._

 _I want to thank many of the other authors who depict her for their views expressed in their works- and in support for them in their ventures overall._


End file.
